Al'terra (Politics)
Public Opinion The people of Al'terra are curious and well informed about their government, through news sources usually but often by public gossip. The official goings-on of the Rhioss was well publicized and laws passed and amended are common for Al'terra to know about. People care about their King and Queen as much as an person cares about the government. They are less clear on the grumblings of the three parts of the Pride as those are rarely well explained or defined. The people have risen up against the government, either by the Rhioss' poor decisions, or finding out hidden information, though this hasn't happened in a few hundred years. If the government doesn't respond to natural disaster, economic crash, or diplomatic threat, the people know. In times past, though not int he recent past, the Rhioss has sanctioned the culling of children because there was a famine and they prioritised elderly over children. This was universally accepted. It was bad, but it was the best of all the evils. Historical Government The election of a leader happened quite early in Al'terra's history - early agreed to be one man and one woman, as so equal opinions were heard and all were respected. It then became that the best and brightest and boldest were sent to advise and do the best for Al'terra - dishonesty was swiftly wiped out and indeed the very best were brought. This eventually became the Board, and the three divisions of it - over quite a period of time, of course. While there has never actually been an overthrow of the government, the people have made their displeasure known and the government has responded. It has, for the most part, been a government that does represent the people. People would argue that in more modern times, this has slowly become less true. Current Government The rulers of Al'terra for as long as history will take us have been an equal pair of unrelated individuals: a King and Queen (not to be confused with ‘queen’ which is slang for a pregnant female). They are not related by blood, bond, political stance, social affiliation of any kind prior to their office, at least not deliberately as some run in the same social circles. Neither has more power than the other thought through periods of time the King has been a strong leader than the Queen and vice versa. Reigning monarchs (which aren’t really monarchs, but I’m going to use the word due to title) are usually young: 20s and 30s at the latest. They reign for quite a short time, on average about five years. If a monarch dies, or much more likely is killed, their chosen heir takes their place. The heir which is secret until the moment they are revealed, takes up the role and either does a fine job, or is challenged and lose (statistically more likely). To officially take over the place of a monarch and be accepted by the Pride, a challenge is issued either to the existing ruler, or their heir-now-ruler (as in, the assassination was planned so the challenger can take on the very naive heir instead of the former Queen - partly why life spans are so short in rulers). Monarchs can be challenged once a year. A challenge is usually witnessed by the entire Society and anyone else who feels like watching. The challenge consists of three events in each of the three areas of the Pride: fviya, tincane, and Jin-ti. If the competitors are of different areas, the one neither belong to is ended on since generally competitors win in the area they are good at. If they belong to the same area, it’s a bit more fun to watch. After the challenge, the new monarch is crowned immediately. Generally they inherit the same group of people from their predecessor, known as 'The Court’ and they make changes as often as they see fit. Sometimes the King and Queen get along, sometimes they don’t, and it doesn’t seem to matter too much. Sometimes they Dance together, as Cyrus was evidently doing, to my personal amusement. The Queen can be challenged when pregnant which is often why she refrains from such things while in that position. The Pride started with all good intent - the common of Al'terra elected the best and most talented among them, put them up, let them rule, and in return the Pride did good. They held the motto 'To Learn, To Protect, to Defend'. The tincane and fviya both found new methods of fire, while the Jin-Ti wrote treaties over time and the gates rose to keep the common out. The common people even built the board that went around the mystical pattern that was thought to be the destiny of the people of Al'terra. They are treated with a skeptical trust. The more local governments are ruled by Lords - there is one for every region of Tantus and then every area of Al'terra in general. Each of the Lord's is advised by three Pride - one of each - and is appointed by them as a result. The Lord's are supposed to be respectable and this has generally been true - they carry out the will of the Rhioss and deal with anything more as it occurs. The Rhioss Kelnray The 64 seats that form the government of the day - 1 for the King, 1 for the Queen, 1 for the Brand, and one for the Spear. The Other 60 are equally divided between the Tincane, Fviya, and Jin-Ti groups. Decisions are still decided on by the two Monarchs. No decision is reached if they can't agree. The Rhioss, generally, dictates the direction that Al'terra takes. The various 60 seats can send whomever they like to represent them. Some grouops have been removed from the Rhioss but in general, the Rhioss keeps a fair head in making sure a very wide variety of focuses and opinions are heard. The order of the Rhioss in the morning include a traditional blessing to the Nine, a reading of the Vows of the Rhioss, Any emergency business, Orders of business from the Tincance/Fviya/Jin-Ti (1 faction per day, rotating of course every 3 days), voting as necessary first on actions, then funding, then laws, ceremonial dismissal Tincane Wisdom Council Commen Studies The Identities *Reading Assembly *Guild of Memory Keeps *Medicine link *Food link *History link *Archeology Fviya Brotherhood of Staves Arcatha Ninth Hall Derfvi Company of the Broken Circle *Best Use *Interfering? *Caution *Making of anything - how magic can be used to make things *Breaking of anything - how magic can be used to break things *evening the playing field for the social classes *new kinds of magic * Jin-Ti Active Players Ring of Espionage *Generals Council *Readers Assembly *Mastery of Arms *Armouy of the Board *External diplomats *All Glory *Altleos Overseer *War historians *